Mutual Materials Spotlighted In SMART: Dynamics of Masonry
In their latest issue, SMART: Dynamics of Masonry wrote an article for their Distinguished Design section highlighting the new Mountainside High School in Beaverton, Oregon. This project was a collaboration between Mutual Materials and Endicott, along with Bora Architects, Hoffman Construction, and Davidson Masonry. The article describes how Mountainside High School is a perfect example of a resilient building with aesthetic interest. Check out the article by clicking the magazine image below.
Mutual Materials and Mountainside High School
When the Beaverton School District decided to move forward on a new high school, they wanted a building that was low-maintenance, meet the needs of generations to come and be able to withstand 9.0 earthquake. However, they also wanted to create a building that was visually interesting with a simple material palette. Mutual Materials and Endicott, along with an incredible team of architects and contractors, were able to meet all these needs in the creation of Mountainside High School.
Bora Architects designed the school, selecting a five-color blend (Ombré) of Endicott brick for the veneer, where four colors were blended on each story. This Ombré blend, gradually blends colors shifting hues and tones, creating a gradient effect where the darker colors are more prominent on the bottom level and become increasingly sparse the higher up the wall’s veneer. While Endicott provided the brick, the colors were all custom blended by Mutual Materials in Spokane, before being shipped to Oregon.
The courtyard and main entry of the school is comprised of a blend of Mutual glazed Ivory (both full-size and Slimbrick®) and mission textured Limestone laid in a soldier course stacked bond to provide a visual contrast to the running bond pattern of the Endicott brick. The white brick also serves to reflect sunlight throughout the courtyard to lessen the darkness of shadows. The interior of Mountainside’s cafeteria is entirely glazed Ivory, making it inviting and easy to clean.
Mutual was also the supplier of the CMU; all of it CarbonCured. The gymnasium blended ground face Birch and Natural giving the walls a high-quality feel, while the hallways were completed with ground face Onyx. Everyone involved in the project was thrilled with the end result and Mountainside High School will be around for generations to come.
